


Pay me back later

by carolc24



Series: Betters Can't Be Choosers [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Death, King papyrus ending, Papyrus Remembers Resets, Sans Remembers Resets, Some Silliness, Some angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-07-29 01:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7665589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolc24/pseuds/carolc24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The skeleton brothers have their own way of making resets entertaining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Legendary Fartmaster

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Invalid_Opinion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invalid_Opinion/gifts).



The corridor was as beautiful as ever. The yellow light shining through the stained glass windows reflected off the tile floor and made the whole room look as if the sun was rising outside. It was a remarkable thing, since there was no sun underground.

The human looked the same as ever. They didn’t bother stopping at the save point at the end of the hall anymore, since they knew they would have more opportunities to save later. They didn’t stop to admire the hall’s beauty, as they sometimes did. They just continued down the corridor, face as blank as ever, only stopping when Sans appeared in front of them.

“So you finally made it…”

The human interrupted him. Another person might not have heard what they said, but Sans was already expecting it.

If Sans wasn’t always smiling, he would have grinned. Just as he expected.

“…did you just say ‘I’m the legendary fartmaster’? wow. how immature can you get?”

The human’s expression didn’t change.

“well then, I guess you wanna see my room. have a key. knock yourself out.”

They felt at their keychain, and found the key. Sans took this as his cue to leave, and teleported out of the hall.

As soon as he felt solid again, he took out his phone and sent a text to Papyrus.

* guess who just admitted to being a legendary fartmaster  
* and also is probably going to visit my room again before they fight asgore

It didn’t take long for Papyrus to respond. He was probably anticipating this, anyway.

UGH  
I HOPE YOU ADDED MORE MYSTERIOUS PHOTOGRAPHS TO YOUR ALBUM BECAUSE OTHERWISE THEY ARE WASTING THEIR TIME

* more importantly I believe you owe me 20g

FINE  
BUT I AM NOT PAYING YOU UNTIL AFTER THE RESET  
AND DON’T FORGET YOU STILL OWE ME FOR THE LAST RUN

* hey, I’ll pay you when I get my check tomorrow ;)

SANS OH MY GOD


	2. Another timeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More on the angsty side.

Papyrus is king again.

Neither of the brothers expected it. The human rarely played to this ending. The first time they achieved it, they were clearly shaken by the phone call they had received, and they rushed through Snowdin without talking to either skeleton more than necessary. But apparently, they’re over their uncertainties about this ending, because this makes the third time Papyrus has been the ruler.

It wasn’t all bad, of course. They got to see each other often, and they did much of their work together. Sans liked seeing Papyrus in a position of authority, and Papyrus liked seeing Sans work hard at something. And it only lasted a week. One week, then they would call the human and wait for the inevitable reset.

That doesn’t really make things easier.

“doing alright, bro?” Sans is busy with paperwork, as usual. He still puts in effort, even though he knows it’ll all be meaningless in a few days. That does help a little. Papyrus looks away at his phone.

“JUST THINKING ABOUT CALLING UNDYNE. I WANT TO ASK HER HOW HER VACATION IS GOING.” It’s meant as a joke, the word “vacation” mutually understood as a euphemism. But Papyrus can’t bring himself to laugh. Sans manages a snort, but it’s barely there.

Papyrus sighs. “I HATE THIS,” he says. “I HATE THAT THIS KEEPS HAPPENING, I HATE NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE HER, EVEN IF I KNOW SHE’LL BE BACK SOON. I HATE IT SO MUCH.” He probably shouldn’t be smiling right now, he thinks. But he can’t really make himself change his expression these days.

Sans echoes the sigh. “yeah,” he says. “me too.” Papyrus remembers how he would spend all his free time at the door to the Ruins, talking to his friend who was really the Queen. Of course he would know how Papyrus is feeling.

Three more days. Then they would go through their scripted phone call with the human, and wake up in Snowdin, and act like this whole time loop nonsense is just a funny game to them. Like they aren’t forced to mourn every time they watch their friends die. Like they don’t feel more and more helpless with each passing day.

For now, they sit in silence and let themselves feel all of it. The moment is brief, but Papyrus savors it for as long as he can. Savors the fact that he can talk openly and honestly with his brother about their feelings, something they could never do in the presence of others. It’s a freedom they enjoy only in runs like this, when the human is gone and they’re both alive and together.

Finally, Sans speaks. “…I guess I still owe you, don’t I.” Papyrus can barely remember the bet he had won, so many timelines ago. It’s tempting to tell Sans not to bother with it, but they both need this. They need the structure, the accountability, or else everything becomes meaningless.

“PAY ME AFTER THE RESET.”


	3. First true reset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wakes up in Snowdin.

Papyrus doesn’t sleep much. It’s an old habit from when he was young, that only continued when the resets started. The effects of sleep deprivation couldn’t get to him if time was constantly repeating, after all. Now that they live on the surface, Papyrus is trying to maintain a sleep schedule. It’s tricky, but Sans has been helping him, and he finds that being well rested really makes a difference.

He wakes up on his own this morning, without an alarm. Odd. Normally, his alarm wakes him up right before dawn, so that he can go for a jog while the sun rises. Watching the night turn into the day is something Papyrus is sure he won’t ever get tired of.

But it’s bright in his room, much too bright for before sunrise. And the light looks all wrong, too white and crisp for the sunny autumn day he was expecting. And the air feels too stale, and unusually cold (Papyrus pulls the sheets of his car bed over his shoulders to keep himself warm-)

His car bed.

He looks over at his desk, and sure enough, there are his action figures in that familiar arrangement.

Reset.

For a second, Papyrus allows himself to feel the shock and hurt brewing inside of him. He was so sure this time would have stuck. Everyone was so happy, and monsters were free, and there’s nothing else he could have possibly asked for. And yet, they were here again. Apparently, the human wouldn’t be satisfied by a simple happy ending.

Then he forces himself to get out of bed and start the day.

The routine is simple. Every timeline, he’d go downstairs, heat up two plates of spaghetti, turn on the TV, and wait for Sans to come downstairs before going to work. Sometimes they’d discuss a plan for that run if one of them had lost a bet, like the time they decided to switch places and had to spend some time going over each other’s scripts (“DO I REALLY HAVE TO CHUG AN ENTIRE BOTTLE OF KETCHUP?” “wouldn’t be the real thing if you didn’t.”)

There wouldn’t be anything like that during this run. Neither Sans nor Papyrus had brought up any longstanding bets since they got to the surface. Maybe Sans was also afraid that saying anything would somehow jinx their happy ending.

Papyrus goes through the motions on autopilot, focuses all of his attention on making sure the spaghetti turns out just right and listening for Sans upstairs. He’s pretty sure he’s being noisier than usual. He can hear a rattling sound coming from him somewhere, which he does his best to ignore.

Sans doesn’t take his time getting out of bed this morning. He’s downstairs only a minute after Papyrus first hears him moving around upstairs, looking dazed.

“Good morning, lazybones!” Papyrus’s voice doesn’t sound right, but he steadfastly continues anyway. “By Sans standards, you are up early, which means you get to enjoy a hot meal with me before I go to work.” Somehow, he manages to hand the plate to Sans, who takes it without looking at it.

“okay, this might sound stupid, but please tell me I didn’t just dream all of that.” Sans’s voice sounds so hollow.

“Uh, if you are referring to monsterkind’s exodus out of the Underground and the beginning of our new lives, then no. That was not a dream.” Papyrus fishes around for a joke, but nothing seems very funny right now.

“welp.” Sans sits down on the couch, tucking his slippered feet behind him. Papyrus is supposed to complain about Sans getting dirt all over the couch for this. “I guess that means I can start slacking off again. nice.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Papyrus sits on the couch next to him and starts picking at his own food. There’s a Mettaton special playing on TV, the same one that’s aired on every version of this day since Frisk first fell. Papyrus knows it by heart now.

“Undyne was going to ask Alphys to marry her,” he says eventually. He can’t disguise the flatness of his voice now. “She told me yesterday. Or, before the reset, I suppose. She was so nervous when she told me.”

The unasked question hangs in the air. Would Undyne and Alphys ever get married, in this world? Would any of them be able to settle down, live their lives?

They sit in uncomfortable silence, staring at the TV without really watching. Eventually, Sans speaks up.

“wanna get super wasted tonight?”

“ABSOLUTELY.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have given up on the ending oops  
> Anyway if you want more content related to this AU/concept check out opinioninvalid.tumblr.com for some really nice art and a summary of the AU.


	4. The old switcheroo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Sans decide to have some fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look a new chapter. Tbh I don't think I'll be writing a lot more for this, but I'm just so hyped about this AU I want to contribute more. If you want to see more of this from the AU creator check out betters-au.tumblr.com, run by InvalidOpinion aka the greatest person ever. Gotta love that skelebro fluff/angst~

The sound of Frisk’s footsteps echoed through the forest, amplified by the low cave ceiling and the previously unbroken silence. Snow melted and leaked through their boots, and they flexed their toes to keep them from going numb.

They weren’t sure what they wanted to do with this playthrough just yet. Exploring the different possibilities for the state of the Underground after they left had gotten stale, as had repeatedly reloading and badgering Sans and Flowey about their knowledge. Maybe they could just… explore the Underground for a while, get to know everyone, look for ways to get to places they hadn’t visited yet.

For now, it would be best to get through to New Home as quickly as possible, and then start exploring after monsters stopped attacking them. It would be boring, but Frisk had done it many times before; they were an expert at making it fast and painless.

They stopped at the bridge, waiting for the “stranger” to approach. The familiar footsteps came, getting closer and closer until they stopped. Now Sans would say-

“H u m a n.”

Frisk froze.

“Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”

That couldn’t be…

“Turn around and shake my hand.”

Frisk turned around and shook the skeleton’s hand. Papyrus smirked at them as the whoopee cushion ran out of air.

“Nyeh heh heh!” He pocketed the whoopee cushion in a jacket that seemed far too small for him, and were those… ketchup stains on the front? “The old ‘Whoopee Cushion in the Hand’ trick! It’s always funny.”

Frisk forced themself to laugh. No good could come from accidentally triggering the wrong dialogue when something like this was happening. Whatever this was.

“Anyways…” Papyrus kept grinning at them. “You’re a human, right? That’s hilarious! I’m Papyrus, Papyrus the skeleton!” The dramatic flourish of his voice did not match this casual dialogue at all, Frisk thought. But his tone was different, more jokey, as if he was playing a role.

“I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. But, you know, I don’t really care about capturing anybody.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and did what seemed to be an approximation of a slouch. “Now, my brother, Sans… he’s a human-hunting fanatic! Actually…” He made a production of looking past Frisk towards the sentry station on the other side of the bridge. “…um… I think that’s him over there! I have an idea: go through this ingeniously constructed Gate Thingie! My brother made the bars wide enough so that people could safely cross the bridge!”

Papyrus ushered Frisk across the bridge and towards the conveniently shaped lamp, which Frisk hid behind before he could direct them to it. The whole situation made Frisk uncomfortable, and they’d rather it ended quickly.

But Sans didn’t show up for at least another ten seconds. Papyrus’s tense “SUP, BRO?” suggested that he was just as annoyed with the delay as Frisk was.

“You know what is ‘up’, my brother!” Sans’s voice carried more than usual, and he enunciated every word as if he was impersonating Skeletor, even trilling his ‘r’s. Frisk couldn’t see him from their angle, but they could imagine he looked ridiculous. “It has been eight days, and you still haven’t! Recalibrated! Your! Puzzles! You just hang around outside your station! What are you even doing?” There was a suppressed snorting sound, and Papyrus scoffed.

“Starin’ at this lamp, bro.” If Sans’s voice was a cartoonish imitation of Papyrus, Papyrus’s voice had become an even more over-the-top cartoonish imitation of Sans. “It’s reeeeally cool. D’you wanna look?”

“NO! I don’t have time for that! What if a human comes through here? I want to be ready! I will be the one… to capture a human!” His volume had increased to a shout.

Papyrus interjected, his Sans-like drawl gone. “Sans, I think you mean ‘I will be the one! I must be the one! I will capture a human!’ That seems more like something you would say, in this situation!”

“Anyway!!!!” Sans plunged forward, ignoring Papyrus’s comment. “I, the Sensational Sans, will get all the things I utterly deserve! I will join the Royal Guard, and bathe in a shower of kisses, and… “

“What about respect and recognition? And people asking to be your friend?”

“Oh, yeah, those too.”

“Well…” There was a playful edge to Papyrus’s voice. “It seems like you’re really working yourself… down to the bone!!” Frisk could practically feel the forced-ness of the bad pun, but Sans laughed at it anyway. Always one to laugh at his own jokes…

“Wait, wait.” Sans dropped the Papyrus voice again. “Are we skipping the other one or something?”

“If we are going to deviate from the script, we may as well reduce the number of awful puns while we are at it.”

“Okay, then…” Sans put on the goofy voice one last time. “I will attend to my puzzles! As for your, ahem, acting skills… put a little more backbone into it!” The world blinked; Sans must have teleported away instead of laughing himself out of the area.

Papyrus sighed dramatically. “You can come out now, human!” Frisk made a beeline for the save point, but was interrupted by his parting words.

“Actually, can you do me a favor?” Papyrus’s voice was closer to normal now. Maybe this would be a sincere request. “My brother has been a bit down lately. He, of course has never seen a human before…” Frisk squirmed guiltily at Papyrus’s gaze, “And seeing you just might make his day! Don’t worry, he isn’t dangerous. Even if he is not as funny as he thinks he is. Just ignore his antics. I’ll be up ahead!” And with that, Papyrus floated up into the air, above Frisk’s head, and towards the next checkpoint.


End file.
